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Wednesday, February 27, 2013

Prompt: Retell your
day as an epic struggle between the forces of good and evil

Marguerite des Cygnes strode into the council chamber,
determined to prove her worth. As the newest council member, and the youngest
among them, she knew many questioned her position. She surrendered her staff to
the guards at the door, but did not volunteer the blades woven into her braided
hair. It was never wise to be completely unarmed.

“Marguerite! Welcome!” called Idris de la Chapelle, her
mentor and the council leader. She accepted his outstretched hands in greeting,
and he kept her close as the other council members arrived. He quietly offered
his assessment of each of the men and women she now joined.

John de Mierle, Chapelle’s strategic advisor, pounded the
table for silence and called the council to order. Marguerite struggled to keep
up with the fast paced discussion, names she did not recognize, and the
seemingly snap decisions of the council. There was good news from the
battlefield, but supplies were low. They needed the support of Robert of the
Briers. Marguerite was surprised when Mierle said she should be the one to go
to Robert’s hold at Brier Creek. She saw the disbelieving looks around the
council table, and then she saw Chapelle nodding and realized he knew of her
long friendship with Robert and his family.

When Mierle closed the council session, Marguerite quickly said
her goodbyes and made her way across the muddy keep yards to the stables. The
day had turned warm and glorious after a long bout of cold rain. Her gray mare
stood saddled and ready, and Marguerite quickly mounted and cantered out of the
keep’s gate and across the fallow fields towards Brier Creek.

Her mare made good time crossing the valley and the low
hills on the way to the Creek. Laborers in the fields stood and stretched their
backs, watching them race by. They reached the main road into Robert’s hold,
and there were plenty of small groups of travellers, merchants and families
alike, crowding the way. Marguerite was frustrated by their slow pace, until
she finally made her way around them and the road opened up again. Her mare
stretched into another fast canter and soon they approached Robert’s hold.

Marguerite pulled her signal handkerchief out of her sleeve
and waved it to the guards as she approached. They recognized her shield and
opened the gates without hesitation. Inside, she jumped down from her exhausted
mare and handed the reigns to a young boy. She fished a few coins out of one of
her skirt pockets, and his face lit up when she pressed them into his hand.

“Walk her around before you give her water and oats, do you
understand?”

“Yes, m’um. She’ll get sick if’n I give her water while she’s
so lathered.”

“Good boy. What’s your name?”

“Danny, m’um.”

“Danny, wait for me at Robert’s council chamber so you can
lead me to her when I’m done. Thank you.”

The boy grinned and bowed, then walked her mare away,
standing tall with self-importance at his task. She smiled briefly, then headed
into the familiar hold.

Kerri lay in the bottom of her dinghy, feeling the cold
water soaking her clothes. She was too tired to move, too tired to row any
farther. Her small boat rocked over the ocean waves, and she was grateful for
the calm. Soon the sun’s rays would warm her weary body enough to sit on the
crossbar and lift the paddle once more.

Four days. Kerri had pushed the dinghy into the water four
days ago, when the portal appeared in the dawn after the full moon. She had
been ready, waiting for it. Hoping it would be close enough. Hoping she would
reach it in time. The portal stayed in place for five days at a time, then it
disappeared until the next full moon. It never reappeared in the same place.

Today was the last day. Kerri could see the portal from
where she lay. The giant arch looked like it was made by giants, or gods.
Slender columns rose into the air, with intricately carved designs she had
never seen from afar, but became more clear as she slowly made her way across
the water toward it. They curved in to a point, reaching to the sky. As she
drew closer, Kerri could see the rough, rocky base hovering over the ocean’s
surface. She didn’t know how she would get up there once she reached it. First,
she had more rowing to do.

She sat up slowly, groaning as every muscle and bone in her
body protested. Strong from a decade of farm work, nothing could have prepared
her for this challenge. The constant rowing blistered her palms and fingers,
made every joint and muscle from her hands to her shoulders burn in agony. Her
back could find no relief from her bent pose over the paddle when she rowed, or
the uncomfortable bottom of the boat, even though she had padded it with a
quickly-sodden blanket. Her stomach and thighs burned from the constant rocking
motion of rowing, and her calves had started spasming from disuse as she sat or
lay down for four days and nights.

Ignoring her body’s demands for rest, Kerri pulled herself
onto the wide crossbar she had carefully hammered over the dinghy’s sides. She
lifted her water bottle and took a small sip. A light rain the second night had
given her a good supply, and she had been ready with a plastic sheet and gourds
to capture it. She’d had good fortune with the weather, and no storms had
threatened her so far. The light clouds she saw this morning told her the sun
would be blazing by midday, and she would need to setup her makeshift shade again,
or risk punishing burns.

She could only pray that by evenfall, she would reach the
base of the portal and find a way to get through.

Monday, February 25, 2013

Callie ignored her brother’s call for her to return to the
house as she ran into the forest. She traced the familiar path, dodging
branches, roots, and brambles with ease. After hundreds of times, she could
make this trip day or night, blindfolded, and never stumble or falter. She
jumped over the bubbling hot-water stream that marked the boundary—past here,
no human dared continue. Except that one day many years ago, Callie hid from
her angry father and crept farther into the forest than she knew, until she
wandered into Brandion’s glade and fell asleep nestled in his downy feather
nest.

Today, she raced into his lair and found him dozing in the
nest. Without hesitation, she climbed in and burrowed under his wing, taking
comfort from his warmth and the steady rumble he disdained to call a purr. His
feathers rustled around her as he pressed her close to his side.

Good even, Caledonia.
It’s late for you, Child. What brings you here? Brandion’s welcome rumbled
in her mind.

Callie stretched her arms up around his neck and sobbed
against him. “Oh, Brandion! It’s almost my birthday! Is it true? I don’t want you
to leave me!”

Brandion lifted his head to peer down at the little human
child. Had it already been five years since she first came? So little time. He
would miss her, as he did the others from years past.

Aye, child. It is
true. After your tenth birthday, you will no longer have any sense of me, no
sight, nor sound, nor touch.

Callie sniffed and rubbed her face against his feathers. She
stood to face him. He remembered how tiny she had seemed when he first found
her sleeping in his nest. Now, she stood almost to his elbow when he was
standing. As he now lay, she could easily touch his face. She laid both palms
against his cheek patches, gently stroking the delicate feathers under his
eyes. He closed his eyes and rumbled his pleasure.

“But why, Brandion? Please don’t go! Why can’t you stay?”

I do not wish to leave
you, child. It pains me to see your sorrow. This is my curse, Caledonia, not
yours. I thank you for the gift of your friendship these five years past.

Her fingers stilled as she thought. “A curse? Can it be
broken?”

Brandion shook his head, brushing her arms with his long, curved
beak.

No, child. It is an
ancient curse, for ancient wrongs I can never repay. Although I have changed
greatly since then, I am still responsible for many terrible deeds in my proud
and foolish youth.

“But surely you have changed, Brandion! You shouldn’t be punished
forever! Tell me, please. There must be something I can do to help you.”

Brandion’s round golden eyes widened in surprise. Never had
a child offered to help him before. He had known from the start that Caledonia
was different. Her heart shone with pure joy. Although the others had loved
him, when it was time for him to go, they always cried for their own loss,
never his. Until now. He looked down into the somber brown eyes of the human
girl who had been his only company for the past five years.

Pride proves the curse’s
merit, dear child. I do not wish to tell you this story. I fear the change I
will see in your eyes, in your heart.

“So you would rather leave me forever? Brandion, if you love
me as I love you, tell me your story. Let’s fight your curse together! I know I’m
just a child, but I swear I will find a way to help you!”

The power of her words swept through him, and Brandion’s
wings ruffled in surprise. For the first time in hundreds of years, he felt a
frisson of hope. He stood to his full height and stretched his wings to their
full span, tips touching the trees on either side of the glade he had lived in
for so long. He looked down at Caledonia, who stood facing him with her hands
on her hips, sure in her faith that together they could conquer any foe. Could
he find a remnant of such faith in his own heart. Could hers be enough to carry
them both?

So be it, Caledonia. I
accept your oath. Together, we will fight my curse.

He bent down and solemnly touched her head with the tip of
his beak, then one shoulder and the other. She shuddered this time, as she felt
the power of his own words, but she did not turn away. She looked up as he
lifted his head.

With the opening tones of Sting’s “Every Little Thing She
Does Is Magic”, Melinda groaned and buried her head under the pillow, feeling
around the top of her bedside table for the phone. She pulled it under the
pillow and tapped the snooze button. A few minutes later, it sounded again.
This time, she groaned and turned it off, rolling over and opening one eye to
balefully glare at the interruptor of her dream about Justin Scott.

She tapped the weather app and ordered Sunny and 65. In the style
app, she chose “Perfect school outfit” and left it to the smartphone and closet
to figure that out. She used the House Settings app to heat her bathroom floor
and start the hot water. Uh-oh, credit denied?

A flick of her fingers closed the app, and she jumped into the
karma credit app. Darn, she should have washed the dishes last night. Household
chores were easy credits. How had she dropped so low since yesterday? Oh, yeah,
there was that teasing Billy. He had it coming—she was pretty sure he would be
down a few credits this morning too. But she was the big sister, and she had to
set a good example. So she got docked for both the teasing and the bad example.
That wasn’t fair! She groaned again and rolled out of bed. It always took
longer to heat the water when she had to run it manually.

While she dressed, Melinda built up some good karma by
blowing the leaves off the driveway into a neat pile, and growing Mrs. Calder’s
daffodils next door so they’d be blooming when she left for work later this
morning. That earned her enough for “Perfect hair” in the Style app, thank
goodness.

Downstairs, her mother’s phone already had Favorite
Breakfasts cooking, so Melinda set the table for a couple more credits. She was
debating offering to do the laundry when Billy bounded downstairs and gave her
and their mother hugs. Darn, he got the credits.

On the way to school, Melinda kept an eye out for untended
lawns and flowerbeds. She almost exclaimed aloud when she caught sight of Mr.
Jackson’s unwashed car, but darn if Jeffrey Gleason got it before she did. She
glowered at him, but changed it to a cheerful thought before she lost any
credit.

All the kids with smartphones turned them in at the front
desk before heading into school. Melinda hovered at the back of the line to
check her texts one more time and to see if she had enough credits for Easy As
today. Darn it, she would have to think of something really nice to do for
someone before the Math test on Friday!

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Favorite Quotes

You have to start somewhere in order to end up somewhere good!~Margaret S. McGraw

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Be kind, be brave, be fierce, be love.~Laura Anne Gilman

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Some things in life cannot be fixed. They can only be carried.~Megan Devine

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Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines, sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover. ~Mark Twain

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Keep your feet on the ground and keep reaching for the stars. ~Casey Kasem

When opportunity puckers up, lean in for a smooch. Only a fool tells the angels to come back tomorrow.~Steven Barnes

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Be kind whenever possible. It is always possible.~ Dalai Lama

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We’re fools whether we dance or not, so we might as well dance.~ Japanese proverb

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No act of kindness, no matter how small, is ever wasted.~ Aesop

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Everything flows, nothing stays.~ Heraclitus

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Balance, always a balance. Work to give life purpose, play to lift the heart, music to soothe the spirit, love to give one strength. One cannot ask for more.~ Pelzmantel, K.A. Laity

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Be kinder than necessary, for everyone you meet is fighting some kind of battle.~ 1st part paraphrased from J.M. Barrie, author of Peter Pan; 2nd part from either Plato or (more likely) Philo of Alexandria

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If you are kind, people may accuse you of selfish ulterior motives... be kind anyway

If you are successful, you will win some false friends and some true enemies... succeed anyway

If you are honest and frank, people may cheat you... be honest and frank anyway

What you may spend years building, someone may destroy overnight... build anyway

If you find serenity and happiness, people may be jealous... be happy anyway

The good you do today, people will often forget tomorrow... do good anyway

Give the best you have, and it may never be enough... give the best you have anyway ~ Mother Teresa